Home › Glossary › Letter E

Erosional verse

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Verse employing imagery of erosion, weathering, or gradual decay—such as crumbling stone or shifting dunes—to explore time, loss, or impermanence.

Detailed Definition
Erosional verse is a metaphorical term for poetry that mimics geological erosion—through fragmented syntax, fading repetitions, or layered palimpsests—to express decay, memory loss, or the slow wearing away of meaning, identity, or landscape over time.
Example
Example in poetry:
Erosional verse mimics decay, as in poems with fading ink or fragmented text; Jen Bervin’s “Silk Poems” use eroded silk fibers as text; Erosional verse appears in post-disaster poetry, e.g., after Fukushima; The form embodies impermanence and loss.
Additional Notes
Poetry exploring erosion, weathering, or gradual loss. Geological metaphor. May involve textual erosion on page. Related: fragmentary verse, process poetry. Consider: form matching content through visual decay.
Also Known As
Wearing verse Degradation poetry Attrition verse
Skip to main content